Listen, I realize that if you read this weekly feature, you do it mostly for the trailers and the list of opening movies. You probably, on a slow day, might skim over my thoughts. And I am okay with that. It is perfectly fine. I am totally good with that. Almost totally good.
This BSR! Weekend Movie Preview is for the weekend of November, 14, 2014. A quick boilerplate disclaimer first. All of the film information presented here, including the plot summary, has been pulled from the Opening This Week page of IMDb (http://www.imdb.com/nowplaying/). I have not seen any of these movies at the time of this writing (except for one this week).
Join us this week as we preview “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1”, “Happy Valley”, and some others.
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 (2014)
PG-13 123 min – Adventure | Sci-Fi
Director: Francis Lawrence
Stars: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson
Summary: When Katniss destroys the games, she goes to District 13 after District 12 is destroyed. She meets President Coin who convinces her to be the symbol of rebellion, while trying to save Peeta from the Capitol.
Thoughts: I have to admit that this series of films has snuck up on me and that now I have a pretty high level of anticipation. The first one was just kinda, you know, not bad, but not great. The second one however, somehow, was just excellent and really set some bars. So, this is pretty high on the “to see” list.
Happy Valley (2014) – [Limited]
98 min – Documentary | Drama | Sport
Director: Amir Bar-Lev
Summary: A documentary that observes the year after Pennsylvania State University assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky’s arrest on child sex abuse charges.
Thoughts: I am kinda uninterested in this, for many reasons. The ugly nature of the situation, the fact it is associated with Football, the whole footballiness of it all. The Football. And the ugliness of the whole situation.
The Sleepwalker (2014) – [Limited]
Not Rated 91 min – Drama
Director: Mona Fastvold
Stars: Gitte Witt, Christopher Abbott, Stephanie Ellis, Brady Corbet
Summary: A young couple, Kaia and Andrew, are renovating Kaia’s secluded family estate. Their lives are violently disrupted upon the unexpected arrival of Kaia’s sister, Christine, and her fiancé, Ira.
Thoughts: Did I already preview this movie? It seems so familiar. If I weren’t so lazy about this article I would search back to see. It seems like we previewed this, but at that time it was a much scarier trailer about a sleepwalker in the forest. Oh well. I guess we will never know.
V/H/S: Viral (2014) – [Limited]
R 82 min – Horror | Thriller
Directors: Justin Benson | Gregg Bishop | Aaron Moorhead | Marcel Sarmiento | Nacho Vigalondo
Stars: Justin Welborn, Emmy Argo, Emilia Ares Zoryan, Amanda Baker
Summary: Follows fame-obsessed teens who unwittingly become stars of the next internet sensation.
Thoughts: I didn’t see the previous one (or ones, is this the second or third?). I mean I saw snippets, but couldn’t maintain the energy to stay interested. This looks like more of the same.
Extraterrestrial (2014) – [Limited]
Not Rated 101 min – Horror | Sci-Fi
Director: Colin Minihan
Stars: Brittany Allen, Freddie Stroma, Jesse Moss, Anja Savcic
Summary: A group of friends on a weekend trip to a cabin in the woods find themselves terrorized by alien visitors.
Thoughts: The dude with the glasses looks like the traitor husband on Black List, so you know you can’t trust him. This actually looks pretty good.
Let us know what you thought of this week’s flicks in the comments. Let’s argue about it. That would be fun.